The Chinese space agency for human flights said that three Chinese astronauts arrived at the country's space station on Sunday.

The trio blasted off in a Long March-2F rocket in the early hours of the morning.

The team is tasked with "completing in-orbit assembly and construction of the space station", as well as "commissioning of equipment" and conducting scientific experiments," according to a report.

The Chinese Manned Space Agency said that the astronauts entered the central module of the station. It took about seven hours to travel.

The palace is expected to be fully operational by the end of the year.

China has already sent probes to the moon and landed a rover on Mars.

The main challenge for the three person crew will be connecting the two lab modules to the main body.

The last crew to spend six months on the space station came back to Earth in April.

The core module is expected to operate for at least ten years.

The completed station will be like the Soviet Mir station that was in the air for over a decade.

Space ambitions

The world's second-largest economy has poured billions into its military-run space program, with hopes of eventually sending humans to the moon.

The United States and Russia have a lot of experience in space exploration, and the country has made a lot of progress in catching up.

The country's plans for a "space dream" have been put into action by the president.

Beijing plans to build a base on the Moon, as well as a space station, and the country's National Space Administration said it wants to launch a crewed lunar mission by 2029.

The United States banned NASA from engaging with China in 2011.

Beijing doesn't plan to use its space station for global cooperation on the scale of the International Space Station, but it is open to foreign collaboration.

NASA says the International Space Station could remain functional until 2030.

Agence France- Presse.